You can’t make this up. A candidate for president is stabbed and nearly bleeds to death waiting for the ambulance. He recovers and almost wins in the first round from a hospital bed. His campaign is about killing criminals, putting troops on the border, and privatizing state enterprises.
We are talking about Jair Bolsonaro, who looks more and more like the next president of Brazil.
The frontrunner in Brazil’s presidential election — far-right former army captain Jair Bolsonaro — gave a fiery and confrontational speech to supporters on Sunday in which he said he would purge the country of left-wing “criminals”.
“We are the majority. We are the real Brazil. Together, we will build a new nation,” he said. “These red criminals will be banished from our homeland.”
The speech pleased supporters but sent a chilling message to political rivals and raised further concerns about how Bolsonaro would rule in Brazil.
“Bolsonaro is doubling down on his campaign strategy,” said Matias Spektor, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo.
“This is an election about change and anger.”
How is this man winning? The election is about change and anger.
I have spoken to several Brazilians in our area.
One of them said that this is the Brazilian Trump, the man who is going to shake things up.
Another admits that Bolsonaro often speaks too sharply but they are voting to save the country from corruption and crony capitalism.
Another told me about the out-of-control violence. She told me that Brazilian mothers are scared to send their kids to school, especially the young men who are being recruited for gangs.
I asked another about Bolsonaro’s disparaging remarks about women, LGBT values, homosexuals and others. His response was rather remarkable: “Brazil is a very conservative country. Bolsonaro is taking about moral decay.”
So here we are. It looks like a former military man who wants to put the army in the streets to stop criminals will be the next president of Brazil.
Based on the polls, Brazil is ready to make him president. He leads 57-43% — what we could call a landslide in the U.S.
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